The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, has criticised the acceptance of unverified academic credentials by people seeking or holding positions of leadership, warning that such practices could erode standards and accountability in society.
Obi made the remarks on Tuesday in a statement titled, “By making excuses for unverified certificates, we are planting poison in the soul of our society.”
He said academic credentials should not be viewed through the lens of political loyalty, but should instead be treated as a matter of standards, integrity and accountability.
“A nation that tolerates unverified academic credentials at any level of leadership, regardless of who is involved, risks destroying the very standards upon which a society is built.
“The issue is not about an individual. It is about standards, accountability, and the values we choose to pass on to the next generation.
“We cannot continue to excuse blurred, missing, questionable, or unverified credentials simply because they belong to someone we support. The process through which people attain positions of responsibility matters greatly. How we get into leadership is as important as what we do with leadership,” he said.
Obi warned that abandoning established processes for verifying academic credentials could create a dangerous precedent with far-reaching consequences.
“If we normalise the abandonment of basic verification today, tomorrow we may have professors who never attended a university, doctors who never studied medicine, and judges who never studied law.
“That is the dangerous precedent we must never allow. Nigeria cannot sacrifice its future on the altar of today’s transactional politics,” he said.
The former Anambra State governor called for a society in which standards and accountability apply equally to everyone, regardless of political affiliation or status.
“We must build a society where truth is not partisan, standards are not negotiable, and accountability applies equally to everyone.
“History will judge us not only by those we defended, but by the principles we were willing to defend. We must choose truth over convenience, standards over sentiments, and the future over political expediency,” he said.
His statement comes against the backdrop of the release by the Independent National Electoral Commission of the names and credentials of presidential and vice-presidential candidates for the 2027 election.
